Conservation

Tate’s mission is drawn from the 1992 Museums and Galleries Act

The four aims listed by the Act are:

■ care for, preserve and add to the works of art and documents in Tate’s Collection;

■ secure that the works of art are exhibited to the public;

■ secure that the works of art and documents are available to persons seeking to inspect them in connection with study or research;

■ generally promote the public’s enjoyment and understanding of British art, and of twentieth-century and contemporary art, both by means of Tate’s Collection and by such other means as it considers appropriate.

Cai Guo-Qiang

Traditionally performance art was considered uncollectable.

Many performance works had a political basis - anti-market

The work is dependent on the presence of the artist to perform it.

Joseph Beuys (1921-86)

• Promoted idea of ‘social sculpture’ and art’s role in shaping society and politics.

‘I Like America and America Likes Me’, 1974

Joseph BeuysFelt Suit 1970 (photographed on acquisition, 1981)

FeltEdition 27, no. 45

Tate Archive. Purchased by Tate 1981, de-accessioned 1995

Joseph BeuysFat Battery 1963 (current appearance)Felt, fat, tin, wood and board

‘We Can't Do it without the Rose’  1972

Image shows Beuys at the desk of his Information Office at documenta V, Kassel in 1972. The Information Office was run as part of the Organization for Direct Democracy.For 100 days Beuys tirelessly debated his ideas with visitors.

Collecting the Performative

Traditional approaches to conservation and collection management are based on the assumption that a museum object is materially bound and fixed. Performance art, which is non-material, is at odds with long-established systems and processes for managing art as a material object.

Public and private collections are rapidly beginning to acquire significant performance artworks from the 1960s and 1970s as well as works by contemporary artists.

‘Solutions’ :•Works entering collections created to no longer be dependent on the artist as performer•Older works reframed to allow for an alternative performer (including audience) •The process of rehearsal and direction to realise the artist’s specific vision for a performance mean that the artist has to re-engage with the collecting institution and with the work when a performance is re-performed or displayed.

Robert Morris: BodyspacemotionthingsTate Modern: Exhibition22 May – 14 June 2009

Climb, balance, crawl and roll on the interactive installation Bodymotionspacesthings by artist Robert Morris, as this series of huge props including beams, weights, platforms, rollers, tunnels and ramps built from materials such as plywood, stone, steel plate, and rope transforms the Turbine Hall.

This is a re-creation of Tate Gallery’s first fully interactive exhibition which took place in 1971, inspiring a huge media and public interest, when an art gallery asked people for the first time to physically interact with an art work.

Shockingly, it was closed just four days after opening, due to the unexpected and over enthusiastic response of the audience. This time around, it will be created using contemporary materials based upon the original plans, in collaboration with Morris, enabling you to experience an exciting landmark in Tate’s history.